Akushon! Japanese TV film crew descends on downtown Colfax

Colfax was abuzz with a cinema craze Monday, as film crews shot several scenes on Main Street. At top, an actor “attacks” a storekeeper in front of a store staged in the old Sandbagger Tavern.

More than 60 Japanese film crew members poured into downtown Colfax May 10, blocking traffic at times and running actors dressed in 1940s garb up and down the sidewalks.

Local law enforcement helped reroute traffic from SR 195 around the city blocks used for the set, which spanned Main Street between Upton and Second streets.

Make-up artists tend to an actor as he discusses an upcoming scene with a production member.

Crew members from Tokyo, New York and Los Angeles are filming a 10-hour, five-episode docu-drama. Monday’s stop in downtown Colfax was among shooting locations scheduled around Eastern Washington throughout the month.

Crews Tuesday shot scenes inside the Imperial Chinese restaurant.

The crew has already shot scenes outside of Palouse, at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Steptoe Cemetery and an Onecho farm.

The mini-series will be broadcast in Japan on the Tokyo Broadcasting System.

Downtown business owners in Colfax were approached last month for permission to temporarily redo the facades of their buildings. The scenes shot in Colfax took advantage of the town’s unchanged appearance.

The scene in Colfax depicted mob reaction ignited by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Racially charged signs like, “Take back the Japs,” were plastered on store fronts.

In one scene a Japanese store keeper and his store were attacked. An actor smashed in the windows of the Japanese man’s store, actually the former Sandbagger Tavern.

Steve’s Glass of Colfax was hired to take out the existing window of the tavern and put in “breakable glass” which an actor smashed in a single scene.

“The way it breaks, you don’t get the sharp edges,” said one Steve’s Glass employee as they reinstalled the original pane after the filming.

Two other locations used for the movie were the early-1900s Onecho barn owned by Brad and Tania Buck, and an early 1900s farmhouse just outside of Palouse. The farmhouse, owned by long-time Palouse farmer Gary Kendall will continue to be used in several more scenes later this month.

A vintage Dodge truck, provided spectators with a clue about the plot. The truck had Hiramatsu Farms lettered on the door

The story begins with Chokichi Hiramatsu, the son of a poor Japanese farmer who decides to go to the United State in 1912. He encounters strong anti-Japanese sentiment and survives on low paying jobs. In 1919 he marries a “picture bride” from Japan.

After years of hard labor, they become successful produce farmers. When the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the family is forced to evacuate their farm and go to an internment camp in Manzanar, Calif.

Their son, Ichiro, is determined to fight for the United States and is drafted in 1943 to serve with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team which established a record of valor in Italy. Just before he departs for basic training he marries Shinobu. Their son is born just before his unit shipped out for Italy.

After Japan surrenders in 1945, the Hiramatsus return to their farm and rebuild their lives as Americans.

At Onecho, Buck said the filming at her house was a dip into Japanese culture. In keeping with their tradition, the dozen or so crew members left their shoes at her door. Their lunches came from a Seattle catering service and included rice flecked with seaweed.

Kendall said the whole crew has been driven to his farm several times. The crew ripped up the exterior of his barn with promises to restore it to normal. The barn is full of props.

Kendall said it has been a bit overwhelming, but exciting to work with the crew.